DOTH Volume 1 Chapter 3.14

As time passed, Jung Heeyeon kept himself busy in his own way.

He spent his days unwrapping the pile of gifts stacked under the tree, and the next day, he made it a point to personally thank each person who had given him something. Though it was a bit troublesome that those alphas always handed him snacks during these visits, he was fortunate that Kim Jiwon let him use the office refrigerator for storage. Thanks to this, Kim Jiwon’s fridge was now overflowing with cakes, pies, tarts, and other desserts Jung Heeyeon had received.

“Ha…”

Despite his packed schedule, Jung Heeyeon had been feeling strangely off for the past few days.

“Is it because the Director has been so busy?”

Muttering to himself, Jung Heeyeon absentmindedly fiddled with the snow globe. Director Yeon had indeed been very busy lately. Normally, he would make occasional appearances at the office, but recently, all Jung Heeyeon could see of him was during his brief comings and goings. It hadn’t even been a full week, yet he found himself feeling a little upset.

At least today, the Director had returned home relatively early. Thanks to an idle question exchanged in the elevator, Jung Heeyeon even got to visit a department store for the first time in a while.

‘Director, should we have rice cake soup tomorrow?’

‘Do you want to have it?’

‘Pardon? I’ve never had it before… I’m not sure if I want to.’

‘You’ve never had it?’

‘No. But Doctor Kim Jiwon said people traditionally eat it on New Year’s Day.’

‘Are you curious about it?’

‘Yes.’

That had been a few hours ago, after they’d returned from having dinner outside. Now, Jung Heeyeon had showered and was gazing out the window at the falling snow. It was almost midnight. Leaning his forehead against the large glass pane, he stared at the snowy landscape of Seoul.

It wasn’t so much that he was enjoying the view of the snow—his thoughts had simply wandered, letting time slip by unnoticed.

“What’s wrong with me…”

Jung Heeyeon murmured as he rubbed at his chest. Though he’d always thought of himself as emotionally dull, lately, his heart had been unsteady, leaping with inexplicable feelings. He couldn’t figure out the cause or even name the feelings.

After staring at the snow globe in his hands for a moment, he turned and left his room. If the Director wasn’t in the living room, he planned to just return to his bedroom.

Peeking into the living room, he spotted Director Yeon’s back. The man was standing on the terrace connected to the living room. Smoke curled into the dark sky where no snow was falling—it seemed he was smoking a cigarette.

“Director.”

Jung Heeyeon hesitated briefly before stepping out onto the terrace. Though he had called him without much thought, Director Yeon turned to look at him as soon as his name was called.

“Yeah, Heeyeon.”

As always, his reply came with the gentle way he said his name.

Jung Heeyeon had intended to ask something but found himself rooted in place, stopping near the doorway. His eyes were entirely captivated by the alpha before him. The man, blending into the darkness, seemed inexplicably hollow.

‘If you don’t have desires, life will start to feel pretty dull.”’

The words from a conversation they’d had about a week ago surfaced in Jung Heeyeon’s mind. Was the Director wearing such a bored expression because he had nothing he truly desired?

Instead of approaching him, Jung Heeyeon stood still and watched the man. The man, leisurely smoking, raised an eyebrow and gestured with his chin.

“Come here.”

As if drawn by the gesture, Jung Heeyeon moved forward.

“……”

Neither Jung Heeyeon, who had called out first, nor Director Yeon, who had drawn him closer, said a word further.

Gripping the terrace railing tightly, Jung Heeyeon turned his gaze toward the distant sky. The cold metal beneath his fingers felt, as expected, icy. Yet strangely, it didn’t bring the same stinging pain as the bars of the hutch he had once been trapped in. Despite the similarity in temperature, it felt different.

Standing under the dark sky, the omega slowly inhaled the night air.

The night was so deeply colored it was hard to distinguish the sky from the darkness. It was as if the darkness had devoured all the light, swallowing the sky whole. Against the pitch-black night, snowflakes began to drift softly down. Passing cars drew long streaks of light, like meteor showers, while the shimmering trees proudly displayed their radiant beauty.

Director Yeon exhaled a long breath as he watched Jung Heeyeon. Calling him to stay beside him had been, in part, an impulse.

Impulse—a word that rarely applied to him.

Yet Director Yeon couldn’t bear it. The distance between him and Jung Heeyeon, who stood bathed in bright light, was intolerable.

And so, he had called him closer. Even though there had been no need to bring the other into the shadowy night where he stood.

Director Yeon moved his hand slowly, so languidly it seemed almost lazy. Yet, at the same time, his actions felt like a deliberate effort to suppress an impulse. As he smoked, his gaze swept over Jung Heeyeon with a lingering intensity, almost like a caress.

The relentless way his eyes roved lazily over Jung Heeyeon revealed something—the bruises that had once been scattered across his pale skin had disappeared.

When had they faded? It was a pointless question. Neither Jung Heeyeon nor Director Yeon had likely noticed when.

The man stubbed out his cigarette and pulled out another, lighting it. The faint sound split the still air and darkness. The noise of the lighter flicking open and igniting caused Jung Heeyeon to turn his head. A faint scar became visible above Director Yeon’s lowered eyelids as he lit the cigarette.

“Director.” 

Jung Heeyeon’s lips betrayed him, moving against his will.

“Yeah.”

As always, Director Yeon’s response was gentle.

“May I… ask your name?”

The alpha’s narrow gaze, previously fixed on his cigarette, finally shifted toward Jung Heeyeon. The lit cigarette, its embers glowing, passed from Director Yeon’s lips to his fingers before disappearing into the darkness. Jung Heeyeon’s eyes followed the motion of the man’s fingers holding the cigarette.

“Heeyeon.”

Director Yeon spoke his name, just as fireworks exploded in celebration of the new year.

Dazzling fireworks painted the night sky in vibrant colors, but Jung Heeyeon couldn’t turn his head to look.

The pitch-black darkness, the pure white snowflakes, and the ember of the cigarette—flickering as though it might extinguish—held his gaze captive.

“Are you curious?”

Director Yeon asked, flicking the cigarette slightly with his fingers. 

The question was ambiguous. Was he asking if Jung Heeyeon was curious about his name—or the cigarette?

Jung Heeyeon simply nodded.

At his obedient answer, Director Yeon let out a low chuckle. Inhaling the cigarette smoke deeply, he reached out with one hand and cupped Jung Heeyeon’s cheeks. The pressure easily parted Jung Heeyeon’s tightly closed lips. Lowering his head, Director Yeon exhaled the cigarette smoke directly into the gap between those parted lips.

It was a brief moment—lips meeting lips, warmth brushing against warmth.

A fleeting, indifferent touch.

As the acrid cigarette smoke invaded his mouth and the warmth of Director Yeon’s lips lingered on his own, Jung Heeyeon blinked in surprise. Their eyes met, and the man gave a slow, languid smile before pulling back.

“Yeon Woobeom.”

Yeon Woobeom.

Woobeom, 虞犯.

A cradle of crime.

Dangerous, covert, unstable.

“Say it.”

The space Jung Heeyeon stood in belonged wholly to Yeon Woobeom.

“My name.”

To Jung Heeyeon, this place felt no different from a high crime rate zone.

“Yeon… Woobeom.”

A high crime rate zone that lured people in, ensnared them in secrecy, and ultimately led them to complete ruin.

“Yeah, Heeyeon.”

Hearing Jung Heeyeon call his name, Yeon Woobeom smiled. His lips curved softly, but the alpha’s eyes sharpened, glinting with a predatory intensity—like a beast eyeing its prey.

“Ah…”

At the tender response and affectionate way his name was spoken, Jung Heeyeon’s lips parted again.

It was only then that the bitter aftertaste of the cigarette lingered on his tongue.

And in that moment, Jung Heeyeon realized it.

The name of the emotion he had been feeling.

Here, in this high crime rate zone where darkness crashed over him like waves, a place that would ultimately lead to his downfall.

<To be continued in Volume 2.>

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